CASTRO, AMPY CARLA I.

JD-102, Assignment No.1

Legal Research and Thesis Writing
Atty. Rickee Gerald Brieva

1. What is Legal Research?

Legal Research is the process of finding the laws, rules, and regulations that
govern activities in human society. It involves locating both the laws and rules which are
enforced by the State and the commentaries which explain or analyze these rules.

Legal research is also defined as the investigation for information necessary to

support legal decision making. Legal research includes each step of a process that begins
with analyzing the facts of a problem and concludes with applying and communicating
the results of the investigation.

2. State the rules in legal citations.

Uniform standard of Philippine citation is needed for clarity, and consistency.
Manuals of legal citation:
Feliciano, Myrna. Philippine Manual of Legal Citations (5th ed. 1999)
Supreme Courts Manual of Judicial Writing (2005).
Fundamentals of Decision Writing for Judges. Manila: Philippine Judicial Academy
(2009)

Sources of Law
Statutes
a. Constitution - Cited by reference to the article, section and the paragraph. For
both manual, the year is placed in parenthesis when the Constitution is no longer
in force.
Example:
Const, (1987) Art. VIII, Sec. 1
b. Statutes proper - Laws passed by the Legislative Department from 101 to present
are cited as follows:
Laws 1901-1934
Act No. 136 (1901)
Commonwealth Acts, 1935-1945
Com. Act No. 35 (1935)
Republic Acts, 1946-1972, 1987-present
Rep. Act No. 88 (1946)
Presidential Decrees, September 21, 1972 February 1986
Pres. Decree No. 442 (1972)
Batas Pambansa, January 1979- February 1, 1986
Batas Blg. 129 (1980)
c. Treaties - Cited by the name of the treaty and the date when the treaty was signed
Philippines Extradition Treaty with the United States, November 27, 1981. 8 PTS
978

d. Executive/Presidential Issuances - Presidential issuances are cited by the number

of the issuance and followed by the date of issuance. The date is important for
each year, the number starts with the first number (No. 1)

Executive Orders
Exec. Order No. 200 (1986)
Proclamations
Proc. No. 1081 (1972)
Administrative Orders
Adm. Order No. 200 (2005)
General Orders
Gen. Order No. 1 (1972)
Letters of Instructions
L.O.I. No. 2 (1972)
Letters of Implementation
L.O. Impl. No. 1 (1972)
Letters of Authority
L.O.A. No. 1 (1972)

e. Administrative Rules and Regulations - They are cited by the abbreviation of the
name of each agency, followed by the name of the specific rule or regulation.
DOE Adm. Order No. 1 (2006)
f. Ordinances - They are cited by providing the name of the city, municipality or the
province, followed by the ordinance number and the date.
Manila Ordinance No. 1, June 21, 2004.
g. Court Rules- name, followed by the rule number and section.
Example: Rule of Court, Rule 14, sec.1
Criminal Procedure, Rule 115, se. 1 (2000)
Civil Procedure, Rule 70, sec. 1 (1997)

Court Decisions - cited by the family name of the parties, the volume number,
Court Report title, page of the court report, and the year of promulgation in
parenthesis.
Example : Ong v. Court of Appeals, 399 Phil. 686 (2000)
Exception to the general rule are Islamic, Chinese names which are cited in full.
Those with Christian first names follow the general rule.
Example: Sy Chin v. Tang Ching Heng & Co., 399 Phil. 442
(2000)
 Court decisions from the Supreme Court down to the lower courts can be
identified through their case number cited as follows:
Court decisions - G.R. No. ____ date of promulgation
Supreme Court of Appeals decisions - C.A.-G.R. NO. ______-R,
CV, CR or SP, date of promulgation
Sadiganbayan decisions Sandiganbayan Crim Case No. _____
date of promulgation
Metropolitan Trial Courts - Me TC (Place & Branch No.) Civil
or Criminal Case No. ____________, date of promulgation
Municipal Trial Court s and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts
decisions MTC or MCTC (Place) Criminal or Civil Case
No.______, date of promulgation
Shariah District and Circuit Courts Shariah Dist/Circ. Ct.
(Place) Case no. , date of promulgation

Administrative decisions - Cited by the name of the agency (abbreviated form),

case number and date of promulgation.
Example: Santos v. Dizon, CSC Adm. Case No. 12345, January
6, 2006
Other Rules:
Jurisprudence is cited based on its source - cited by the family
name of the parties, the volume number, page, and date of
promulgation in parenthesis.
Example: Ong v. People, 399 Phil. 686 (2000)
If taken from a Secondary Source - cited by the family name of
the parties, G.R. number, date of promulgation and the volume
number of the Reports and its page.
Example: Ong v. People, G.R. No. 139006, November 27,
2000, 346 SCRA 117

Citations Repeatedly Used

Ibid used for successive citation of the same volume and the
same page or exactly the same document
Id used in successive citations but different page.
Supra used to identify the citation that has been previously
cited whether on the same page or a previous page.
Supra note is used when the citation previously cited is too
far.
Bibliography

Agpalo, Ruben. Philippine Constitutional Law. Manila: Rex

Bookstore (2006) 730p
Sison, Carmelo. Essentials of the 1987 Constitution. Q.C.:
JMC Press (2000) 4 vols. In 3
 Mendoza, Vicente. The Supreme Court under the Constitution.
Q.C.: UP Law Center (1977) 155p.

3. What are the sources of law in the Philippines?

The following enumerated below are the sources of law in the Philippines.

a. Primary Sources of law are those recorded laws and rules which will be
enforced by the state. They may be found in statutes passed by the legislature,
regulations and rulings of administrative agencies and decisions of appellate
courts.

b. Secondary authority or sources are commentaries or books, treatise,

writings, journal articles that explain, discuss or comment on primary
authorities, opinions of the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange
Commission or circulars of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. These materials
are not binding on courts but they have persuasive effect and/or the degree of
persuasiveness. With regards to commentaries or books, treatise, writings,
journal articles, the reputation or expertise of the author is a consideration.

c. Finding Tools are only a means for locating primary sources

4. What are the parts of a legal thesis?

The following enumerated below are the parts of legal thesis.
1. Introduction
The writer introduces his topic or theme of investigation. She points out the
circumstances that make it relevant or that lend it currency. He attempts to elicit the
readers interest in the subject.

2. Statement of the Problem

This is a most crucial part of the proposal. The proponent must be able to articulate the
problem of the thesis in interrogative form. The success (or failure) of a study depends in
great measure on the degree of clarity with which the problem is formulated. Surely,
when the student himself is not clear about what it is he is inquiring into, there is hardly
any reason to expect a felicitous outcome for the research.

3. Objective and Significance of the study

This need not be an unduly extended portion of the proposal. It responds to the
question. What does the researcher wish to be undertaking the study? Both theoretical
and practical objectives are acceptable. One may wish to point out inconsistencies, or in
 contrast, show continuities. One may also wish to criticize and propose alternatives. One
may wish to provide a historical explanation. One may wish to contribute towards the
enrichment of received doctrine or jurisprudence by adverting comparative jurisprudence.

4. Scope and Limitations of the study

It acknowledges the parameters or confines of ones study. For example, can choose to
study only the Constitution of 1987, or the Rule for the Examination of the Child
Witness.
If one uses foreign sources that one depends on translation and not the original languages
is it a limitation that must be acknowledged in this portion of the proposal.
If one confines ones study to a certain period one examines the doctrines of the
Supreme Court on locus standi from 1990 to 2000 that is a period limitation, as there
may have been jurisprudence before or after the period markedly different from that of
the period studies.
5. Definition of Terms
It provides operational definitions of terms used in a special or technical manner in the
study.

6. Conceptual framework
The conceptual framework for purposes of a thesis in law is the legal theory one is
working with, or that one presupposes.

7. Review of Related Literature

This section of the proposal informs the reader of the present status of academic research
subject. What literature should be reviewed? Books or treatises in law, articles in law
journals or law anthologies or monographs, as well as masteral and doctoral theses are
studies. These are considered related if they treat of the same subject as the thesis, or of a
related subject. The sources one will use such as ones references or case authorities
are not related literature.

8. Methodology and Procedure

5. What are the qualities/traits that a law student must possess in order to earn a law degree
and eventually pass the bar?

The qualities/traits that a law student must possess in order to earn a law degree
and pass the bar are the following:

a. Consistently praying and ask for the wisdom and guidance in

everything we do.
b. Perseverance
c. Courage
d. Humility
e. Eagerness to learn more about the law profession
f. Consistency on reading